Machine for forming heavy sliver lap



Oct. 22, 1946. T. s. RAMsDELL MACHINE FOR FORMING HEAVY SLIVER LAP Filed Aug. 1o, 194s INVENTOR. Themas .5'. #amsn/el( Patented Oct. 22, y 1946 MACHINE Fort FORMING HEAVY sLIvER LAP Thomas S. Ramsdell, Housatonic, Mass.

Application August 10, 1943,` Serial No. 498,129

6 Claims. l

My present invention relates to a method of and a, machine for forming an unusually heavy web or sliver lap on the front of a cotton or woolen carding machine.

At present, the web conventionally produced on a cotton card weighs between 60 and 75 grains per running yard. To obtain heavier 4,webs or laps it has been proposed to superimpose and compact aplurality of such conventional webs as they are taken from a plurality of cards, and as many as 12 to 14 cards have been placed serially or in tandem to produce a lap. The ultimate weight of sliver lap in such cases is limited by the impracticability of placing and operating so many cards in tandem.

According to. my present invention I- am enabled to produce on the front of a single cotton card an unusuallyheavy sliver lap weighing up to 2,000 or `more grains per running yard. Such heavy sliver lap is adapted for various commer` cialapplications, for example, the making of cotton fabrics without recourse to spinning and weaving, as a base material for artificial leather, etc. I produce such heavy sliver lap by feeding an ordinary web taken frorna card dofer to a condensing means moving at a slower rate than that at which the web is fed thereto, and then stripping the condensed sliver lap from the condensingmeans. `lf desired, after the condensed sliver lap is stripped from the condensing means, it may be compacted by passing it through calender rolls.

My invention will be better understood from the detailed description which follows, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing', whereint- A'Figure 1 diagrammatically shows the principa elements of my machine arranged at the front of a carding machine, a portionof the card doffer of which is only shown; and

Fig. 2- is a top plan on an enlarged scale of the condensing roll and stripper rollshown in Fig. l. Referringto the drawing, the numeral IIJ indicates aV card doffer of a conventional cotton or woolen carding machine upon which is shown a formed'web II. In front 'of the doffer I0 there is provided a supporting sheet or apron l2 which is "adapted to receive the web II as it is stripped from the doffer by a comb I3, in a manner common to such machines. Mounted to rotate within the trough of the apron I2 is a roll I4 having a peripheral surface adapted to engage the surface of the web II and feed said web over said apron to a condensing means I5. To accomplish this the roll I4 is preferably in the form of a brush,

the bristles of which may be of pig hairyreed, plastic, iine wire or any other material which is capable of frictionally engaging the surface of the web II and move it along as the roll is rotated. A I I The condensing .means I5 which I prefer to use is in the form of a roll `or drum, the peripheral surface of which is covered with a clothing having closely spaced` circumferential rows of impaling pins I6 which in adjacent rows are staggered and which preferably have their outer portionsextending non-radially to the roll. As herein shown, the pins 5I arerfof theknee type, but it will be appreciated that curved pins or straight pins extending non-radially from the surface of the roll may be used. `In Fig. 2 of the drawing, for the purpose of clarity, but a limited number of the impaling pins I6 are shown. The mountings of `the rolls ldand I5 are-such that the outer ends ofthepins I6 are in interengaging or overlapping tangential relation to the outer ends of the brush bristles so that as the roll I5 is rotated, the outer ends of the pins I6 willpenetrate and pass through the peripheral surface of the brush. The condensing roll I5 is mounted for rotation in a counterclockwise direction which is opposite to that of the brush roll n Mi and at a peripheral `speed much slower than that of the brush roll I4. Y `It will thus be seen that as the web II is fed by the brush roll I4 to the condensing roll I5, said web will be progressively vimpaled on the pins IB and condensed to form a heavy sliver lap lla. I 'I Mounted in advance of the condensing roll I5 and rotatable in the same direction as said roll I5 is a stripping roll I'l designed to strip the condensed sliver lay IIa from the condensing roll. The roll I'l is provided on its peripheral surface with circumferential rows of radially eX- tending pins I8; the rows of which are more widely spaced apart than are the rows of the pins I6 on the roll I 5. The mountings and the relationship of the rolls lI and I5 are such `that the pins I6 are in overlapping or interengaging tangential relation with the pins I8 to a degree such that the outer ends of the pins I B move substantially tangentially to the surface of the Iroll I'I. The peripheral speed of the stripping roll I'I is somewhat greater than the peripheral speed of the condensing roll I5, so that as said rolls are rotated, the pins I I8 will impale and strip the condensed lap Ila from the pins I6, which action willbe apparent from the non-radial relationship of the outer ends of the pins I6 with respect to the roll. As an'aidin stripping and feeding the 3 sliver lap I Ia from the roll I I preferably employ an idler roll I9 having a roughened peripheral surface provided by a covering of cork, rubber and the like.

The heavy sliver lap IIa must now be disengaged or stripped from the stripping roll Il, and toaccornplish this I provide' a stripper plate or comb 2E) having a plurality of flat strips or teeth 2! bearing on the periphery of the roll II and extending between the circumferential rows of pins I8 and projecting substantially tangentially from the surface of the roll beyond the free ends of Vby the rotatable member for feeding the web after f its removal from the card doffer to the condensthe pins thereon. The width ofeach of `these teeth or strips 2I is preferably such as to fill the axial distances between adjacent circumferential rows of pins. The stripper plate 2!) is preferably iixedly held ign relation to the roll II by having one end of the plate anchored in a xed support 22 and having the opposite end thereof preferably discontinuous, as are the teeth of a comb. It will thus be seen that as the stripping roll II is rotated,V the impaled, sliver lap carried thereby engages, the flat stripper plate which functions to remove or strip the sliver lap from its impaled relation on the pins I8, which move through the spaces between the teeth or stripsZI.

From the stripper plate 20 thefsliver lap may be compacted by being passed through a pair of calender rolls 24 and 25 which provide aconsiderable draft upon the lap as it leaves the stripping roll. After being compacted by the calender rolls the compacted* heavy sliver lap I Ib may be wound upon a ytube or cylinder 26 in a conventional manner, suchas through the aid of windup rolls 21 and 28. y

No means have been shown for driving the various rolls at theirV intended speeds and in the directions indicated bythe arrows, since itl will be apparent that this merely involves the, application ofl well-known mechanical driving devices.

In the operation of my device the thin lmy web II is combed from the card doffer IB by the comb I3 in the usual manner and by means of the revolving brush roll I4 is drawn over the supporting sheet or apron I2 and fed to the condensing roll I5.; As stated, the condensing roll I5 rotates vrelatively slowly in relation to the brush roll I4,

with the result that the web II is impaled upon and forced inbetween the projecting pins I'to provide 'a heavy sliver lap. As the condensing roll I5 revolves slowly with the condensed sliver lap IIa thereon, the stripping roll I'I, which revolves slightly faster than roll I5, detaches and raises the condensed lap from the pins I6 andthrough the aid of the draft provided by the calender rolls, the heavy sliver lap I Ia is carried forward to pass through said calender rolls.'y The stripper plate Z operates to prevent the pins I8 from carrying the lap'around with the roll Il and as a supporting apron for the sliver lap between the roll I'I and the calender rolls.

It will thus be seen that I have provided an exceedingly simple, practicable and eicient means for tremendously increasing the weight per running yard of a'web taken from a card doffer and of producing a heavy sliver lap which is of substantially homogeneous form throughout. It will be understood, however, that my invention may be used to process fibers of different kinds and while I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention and the manner in which the same is to be carried out, I do not wish to be limited to the precise details kof construction and operation disclosedsince these may be varied within the range of engineering skill without de ing means at a rate faster than the movement of the `condensing means, so that the web will accumulate and build up in thickness thereon, and means for stripping the condensed, built up 1 sliver lap from the condensing means.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the rotatable member for feeding the web after its removal from the card doffer to the condensing means is a rotatable Abrush. I

3. A machine for forming a heavy sliver lap which comprises means for removing an ordinary web Vfrom a card doffer, movable condensing means having a surface covered with impaling pins, means for feeding the web after its removal from the card doffer to the condensing means at a rate faster than the movement of the condensing means, so that the web will accumulate and build up in'thickness thereon, and a rotatable roll having circumferential rows of pins and a xed member havingat teeth-like portions extending between the rows of pins and projecting beyond the free ends thereof for stripping the condensed, built up sliver lap from the condensingmeans.

4. A machine for .forming aheavy-'sliver lap i which' comprises means for removing an ordinary ,webfrom a card doffer, 'a rotatable condensing the condensed, built up sliver lap from Vthe condensing means comprising a rotatable roll having more widely spaced circumferential rows of DiIlS than the pins on the condensing roll, the pins of saidrolls being in interengaging tangential relation, anda stripper plate having at 'teeth-like portions extending between the rows of pins on the stripping roll and projecting substantially tangentially from the surface of the roll beyond the free ends of the pins thereon.

5. A machine for forming a heavy sliverlap which com-prises a rotatable condensing roll covered withimpaling pins, a rotatable member having a peripheral surface adapted to engage the surface of a web after its removal from a card doffer for feeding said web to the impaling pins on the condensing roll at a rate faster than the peripheral movement of the condensing roll, the peripheral boundaries of the condensing roll and the rotatable feeding member being in interengaging tangential relation so thatthe web will 'accumulate and build upV on the condensing roll to form a sliver lap,` and means for stripping the condensed, built up sliver lap from the condensingl roll covered with circumferential rows of pins inoverlapping tangential relation to the brush, said condensing roll being rotatable at a slower peripheral speed than the brush whereby the web from the dofer card will be impaled on the pins and condensed, a stripping roll having more widely spaced circumferential rows of pins than the pins on the rst-mentioned pin-covered roll, the pins on said 1011s being in substantial overlapping tangential relation, and a stationary stripper plate having a plurality of flat strips each extending between adjacent rows of pins on the stripping roll and projecting substantially tangential ly from the stripping roll beyond the freeends of the pins thereon and calender rolls in advance ing the stripped sliver lap.

THOMAS s. RAMSDELL. 

